2 killed, 3 injured in 2 road accidents

A female second-year high school student died after a dump truck ran over her in barangay Poblacion in Alegria Sunday morning while a truck helper was killed and three people were injured in a bus-truck collision in barangay Patupat in Barili yesterday morning.

The victim in the Alegria accident, 14-year-old Jennifer Baisac, was crossing the road when a dump truck (plate number GDB-711) hit her at about 11am. She suffered severe fractures in her legs and body and was taken to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

Baisac fought for her life for hours in the hospital but by 5:30pm, the physician declared her dead.

The driver of the truck, Henry Sia, a 46-year-old businessman, surrendered himself to the town police station and charges are being readied for filing against him.

Investigators said the victim was walking towards south when she suddenly crossed to the other side of the road. Sia was reportedly caught offguard causing his truck to run over the girl.

In the Barili accident at 8:10am yesterday, 31-year-old truck helper Rosalito Perolino, a resident of Dumanjug, was killed when the truck he was riding collided head-on with a southbound Ceres bus. Perolino was declared dead on arrival at the Barili District Hospital.

Three others on the truck who were injured were Junie Aniñon, 37, Pedio Casipong, 42, and a 17-year-old boy — all residents of Dumanjug. They were taken to the Don Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.

The truck, owned by a Dumanjug-based construction firm, was bringing its construction workers to a project site in Naga City. It was overtaking another vehicle at a zigzagged portion of the highway in Barili when it crashed into the southbound bus, which was full of passengers.

Investigator Zaldy Orillo said Perolino and the others in the truck were standing at the back of the truck at the time of the collision. The sudden impact threw them off the truck’s side while Perolino’s head slammed into the truck’s side mirror.

The truck driver, 24-year-old Daven Jacuma, and the Ceres bus driver, 31-year-old Cerelo Swerte, voluntarily surrendered to the police. —Princess Mondejar, CNU-intern/RAE